Share
5th February 2025
11:04am GMT
Experts have expressed their concerns about the free hot school meals programme in Ireland.
The scheme currently provides free hot meals to around 345,000 pupils in Ireland with plans to extend it even further.
Around 2,200 schools avail of the scheme at the moment but the next government plans on introducing it to every primary school in Ireland.
However, both teachers and health experts are concerned about the food on offer.
They have stressed that the meals are not healthy enough and are concerned about the nutritional value being offered to children.
According to a sample menu, some of the meals include beef stew, cocktail sausages, and a chicken goujon roll.
Children and their parents are allowed to choose from the menu and the meals are then delivered to their school daily.
She told The Journal: "This programme is about feeding people, rather than feeding them well. These are hot meals that are going into schools every day. So there’s no reason why they would need to have an extended shelf life."
Earlier this year, presenter Kathryn Thomas said she was "flabbergasted” to find out about “the amount of ultra-processed foods.”
The mum said: "This is so wrong. It is so detrimental to our children’s health. I know talking to friends of mine and parents who have actively been encouraged to stop using lunch boxes, which we’ve done as well."
"If that meal that’s been provided by these suppliers into the schools is filled with ultra-processed crap, this is so detrimental to our children’s health. It’s so detrimental to the obesity rates in Ireland, childhood obesity, and there’s no regulation."
The Department of Social Protection stressed that they followed the Food Safety Authority of Ireland's dietary recommendations.
What do you think of the free hot meals programme in Ireland?
